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I finally got myself an internet connection so no more whining from me on that front, but I'm a little... scared to get Steam games. What happens if I upgrade my PC? Okay, to make the question absolutely clear here's an example:

Let's say I buy install and activate 10 games (retail only) that require Steam on a PC with Windows XP SP3 32bit. Then one (or a combination) of the following happens:

a) random PC parts start malfunctioning and have to be replaced but I can't find the exact same parts

b) I upgrade the PC

c) I replace my Windows XP with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

d) I recycle the PC and buy a new one

What happens then? Will I still be able to play those games even on a somewhat changed PC (or completely different in case d)?

Thank you in advance.

The account is tied to you and an email account not your PC and it depends more on the DRM from the game publisher than steam. I have used Steam on multiple computers and currently have three different systems where I use steam games. An XP partition, a Vista Partition and a windows 7 laptop. I have never encoutered any issues. If you check the FAQ's on steam, I imagine you will find a more concrete answer to your question.

You can play the games you have registered on Steam on any computer you want.

If you just upgrade your computer, you don't have to worry, your games will still be there playable.

If you buy a new computer. Just install Steam on it, and you'll be able to download all your games through Steam on to your new computer without a problem (don't even need the retail disks you bought).

Do be aware though, that some games have a DRM independent of Steam that may limit the number of installs you can have.

Ares2382 wrote:You can play the games you have registered on Steam on any computer you want.

If you just upgrade your computer, you don't have to worry, your games will still be there playable.

If you buy a new computer. Just install Steam on it, and you'll be able to download all your games through Steam on to your new computer without a problem (don't even need the retail disks you bought).

Do be aware though, that some games have a DRM independent of Steam that may limit the number of installs you can have.

Huh. So, if I understand you correctly, you're more or less saying that the retail *discs* might be tied to the computer I first installed their contents on, but the game *content* itself is only tied to its own activation code and thus the game will simply download itself to the new computer as long as Steam sees on my account that I own it? That's a relief.

Yup, you got it.

In fact, forget you even bought the disks. Most, if not all, Steam activated games don't need disks for install (not the first time or the tenth time). Just take the code that comes in the box, activate it on Steam and install it straight from Steam and play it (although if you have slow download speed, installing from disk might be quicker).

Steam games you purchased on steam go in your libary. You can choose to install a game in your library on your computer. Then it is on your computer. You can uninstall it at any time. Then reinstall it. You can install it on more computers. To play the game you have to have steam running. And in my tests I can only have my steam account running on one (or is it two) computers. So you couldn't play co-op with your 5 friends using just your own steam account.

A very few games like Sacred 2 and Two Worlds 1 and 2 there is a limited number of activations. For sacred 2 you have to remember to deactivate before uninstalling. For two worlds when you run out you can request on their forum to have more activations. Both of those are to control piracy the problem being that they don't have a separate policy for steam where on steam piracy is pretty much already in check (unless I am unaware).

You can also put a non-steam game in your library but then it is just a pointer and you need the disc and activation non-steam codes to run the game; in non-steam game its just a way to organize run icons into 'library'.